London and Frankfurt opened lower and Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Shanghai closed up after spending most of the day in negative territory.
"But this may well prove to be premature relief," said Varathan. "And so, the `Coro-NO-virus' relief is at best shallow, if not essentially no relief, at this point." In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed down 0.6% at 23,685.98 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.6% to 27,225.13. China's central bank promised additional lending to companies involved in fighting the virus. The government promised tax cuts and subsidies to farmers, makers of medical supplies and other companies.
Since mid-January, central banks in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand have cut interest rates to cushion against the impact of anti-disease measures.